|
PERENNIAL FAIR
July 23 & 24
10 AM - 4 PM
at the Garden Center | |
Sales
Displays
Walking Tours
Expert Advice
and more! |
| Secrets of successful perennial gardening | |
Perennials are flowering plants that live for more than two years. They die back each winter and return to life each spring from their live roots.
Perennials usually bloom in early, md or late season and a little bit of planning will give you continuous blooms.
Provide structure for your perennial garden with easy-care medium sized shrubs that complement them. Some options include: hydrangea, spirea, dogwood, butterfly bush and shrub roses.
Think about height, color, requirements for sun or shade, and blooming time (each has its own). Tall perennials work best in the back of the garden, and add to the structure of the space. Medium ones fill the middle space and shorter ones work best in front.
Many gardeners also build their perennial plans around a favorite color, or to provide maximum flowering impact at a time they use their garden most. We can help you with these considerations.
Mix it up. Since annual plants provide continuous color all summer while perennials bloom only once, it's nice to combine annuals with perennials. If you've built your perennial border with violet and white flowers, add a splash of complimentary orange with some annuals like Zinnias or Marigolds. |
| Something new in the edible garden | Edible gardens are well underway by now, but if you have space, it's not too late to try something new - fruit! Here are some ideas:
Blueberries grow on small bushes that are not space hogs in the garden. They are very easy care plants and produce a bumper crop of sweet berries that are good for you and the kids.
Figs make a nice statement if you have room for a container plant in the garden. Although they do go dormant in the winter, they can be brought indoors and treated as a houseplant.
Grapes are fun to grow if you have an arbor or fence to support them.
Espaliered fruit trees are unusual and fun along a fence or arbor wall. These will require spraying to produce fruit, but they are provide beautiful blossoms in spring, an unusual presentation, and fruit in season. We have several to choose from. |
| In our next issue |
Green roofs
Lawns
Shade trees |
| Contact us |
Lurvey Landscape Supply & Garden Center
2550 E Dempster St. Des Plaines, IL 847-824-7411 Hours and Directions
|
|
|
| Featured Plant: Amsonia hubrechtii |
 | | Arkansas Amsonia(Amsonia hubrechtii)
Photo courtesy of Northscaping |
A delicate looking and easy-grow native plant, Arkansas Amsonia, is the Perennial of the Year for 2011, and there are many good reasons! Its small star-like flowers are an icy-blue white, blooming in May and June. Its feathery foliage is beautiful at any season - light green in spring and summer and turning bright gold in the fall. Best of all, the plant itself fills out nicely to a rounded 30" - 36".
What else makes this plant a winner? It is tolerant of sun or light shade, dry to medium soils and it doesn't grow too fast or too slow. It's also deer resistant, relatively pest free, and easy to grow in rock gardens, borders, and woodland beds, and it's flowers last well when cut. |
| Easy does it perennials | |
Each year the Perennial Plant Association designates one very special perennial as the Perennial Plant of the Year. These stars are selected for their beauty in all seasons, their hardiness n a wide variety of climates, their ease of propogation, and their low maintenance requirements. If you are new to perennials, you can have a varied and interesting garden using just these selections from 1990 to the present:
2010 - Baptista australis: Tall, with unique bluish foliage and bean like yellow or purple flowers. Forms a pleasing clump. A stunner in the border.
2009 - Hakonechloa 'Aureola': This is a striking, lime green low growing grass that has become very popular in perennial borders. Complements flowers well and is easy to grow even in deep shade.
2008 - Geranium 'Rozeanne': Mounding form with striking blue-violet blossoms and can be used in borders, containers, or as a groundcover.
2007 - Nepeta 'Walker's Low': Silver green aromatic foliage and dark purple flower spikes that will rebloom if cut back after first bloom. Up to 36" tall. Attracts bees and butterflies to the garden.
2006 - Dianthus 'Firewitch': Low growing with prolific hot pink aromatic blossoms. Does well in hot sun and dry soil. Great for the border, rock garden, or as groundcover.
2005 - Hellebores x hybridus: This is the Lenten Rose, so named because it blooms during Lent and is therefore one of the first perennials to bloom in the garden. It's also great in the shade, and flowers prolifically into mid-summer. Comes in many colors too!
2004 - Athyrium 'Pictum': The Japanese Painted fern has fronds that are silver gray with red and even highlights. Very elegant in the shade garden.
2003 - Leucanthemum 'Becky': Who doesn't like daisies? This is a hearty, disease-resistant variety that adds traditional delight to the perennial garden.
2002 - Phlox 'David': Phlox is an old-fashioned favorite in the garden. This selection stands 36-40" tall with prolific white panicle blossoms from July to September. Resistant to mildew that affects many other phlox.
2001 - Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster': Another versatile, easy care ornamental grass that blooms in fall with pinkish flower heads that deepen to golden. Majestic in the fall border.
2000 - Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue': Lavender blue flowers that will rebloom all season are the memorable feature of this selection. Foliage hugs the ground, making a nice mound.
1999 - Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm': Black-eyed Susan is a long standing favorite and this selection is known for its hardiness, blooming well into fall, and golden colored flower heads.
1998 - Echinacea 'Magnus': The purple coneflower has also become a great favorite. This variety stands 2' to 4' on very sturdy stems. Great deep purple color and long lasting flower heads.
1997 - Salvia 'May Night': Spring blooming with dark blue black flower spikes that last! Grows to about 30". Very tolerant of dry conditions.
1996 - Penstemon 'Husker Red': The name refers to the foliage which is bronze red, and contrasts with airy white flower stalks growing to about 30". Likes dry conditions and makes a great cut flower.
1995 - Perovskia: Russian Sage has become a favorite in many gardens for its tall, airy stalks of blue flowers and aromatic gray foliage. Great is a mass planting when combined with flowering shrubs and grasses.
1994 - Astilbe 'Sprite': A favorite for shade gardens, with fern-like dark green foliage and delicate pink flower spikes that appear in mid-summer.
1993 - Veronica 'Sunny Border Blue': Provides bright lavender blue flower spikes over dark green foliage for the flower border. Stands 18 to 24" tall and is known for its long blooming time.
1992 - Coreopsis 'Moonbeam': This airy and delicate perennial features very fine foliage and happy yellow blossoms. Long blooming in the garden. Likes dry conditions.
1991 - Heuchera 'Palace Purple': Coral bells are a popular groundcover plant tolerant of a wide range of garden sites. This one features red bronze foliage contrasting with very delicate, tiny white flower stalks.
1990 - Phlox stolonifera: This is the creeping phlox that brings so many rock gardens to life in early spring with its masses of light purple blossoms. Foliage forms a nice mat of light green throughout the season.
For more information about all these plants, see http://www.perennialplant.org/PPYIndex.asp |
|
|
|
|
